U.S. stocks briefly pared losses in extremely volatile trading on Friday in the aftermath of the previous day's dramatic intraday plunge that briefly took nearly 1,000 points off the Dow industrials.

Fears of a financial meltdown stemming from the debt crisis in Greece and other parts of the euro zone kept a negative undertone in the market.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> dropped 29.09 points, or 0.28 percent, to 10,491.23. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> fell 4.17 points, or 0.37 percent, to 1,123.98. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> lost 19.03 points, or 0.82 percent, to 2,300.61.

(Editing by James Dalgleish)

Dow jones